


Locked In

by Ackeraramann



Series: GenShizu [1]
Category: Naruto
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Comedy, F/M, Fluff and Angst, Hopeful Ending, Implied/Referenced Character Death, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-22
Updated: 2020-07-22
Packaged: 2021-03-04 17:46:56
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 7,745
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25450354
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ackeraramann/pseuds/Ackeraramann
Summary: Genma and Shizune trapped in the Hokage's office. What could go wrong? Or rather, what could go right?
Relationships: Shiranui Genma/Shizune
Series: GenShizu [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1843381
Comments: 4
Kudos: 13
Collections: GenmaWeekend2020





	1. Trapped

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A rather late submission for Genma Weekend 2020 falling on Day 1 – Bonds.
> 
> I'm relatively new to AO3, but not so much in the writing process. I just hope this contribution brings you joy as much as it did for me while working on this.
> 
> Thanks for reading!

Today officially marks the last day of the last week that Tsunade is operating as Hokage. The Senju can finally commit to endless hours of gambling and drinking, and Shizune couldn't be more disappointed in herself.

Shizune still has a job to fulfill, and that is to be Kakashi's advisor and attendant for 10 more years. Apart from that, she still hasn't dated and the person qualified for that position in her life is just as busy as her; perhaps even more busy since he's now appointed as Kakashi's personal bodyguard, as one of the people in charge of the Chūnin Exams and of supervising the newly-promoted Chūnin, as well as training the new Hokage guard recruits.

Admittedly as peaceful as the world is right now, this might just be the busiest time of their lives. And it's enough for Shizune to think that work is all she's ever destined for.

As if the day couldn't get any more interesting, she sees Tsunade first thing in the morning, with an uncharacteristically sly smirk on her face. Whether it had to with today being her last official day as Hokage and passing on the suffering to the Hatake, she didn't know. 

But Tsunade was clearly sober, and the grin on her face could mean anything but the latter.

"Good morning, Shizune." Tsunade greeted her assistant, adviser, former apprentice, and long-time companion in an unsettlingly cheerful manner.

"Good morning Tsunade-sama, you seem to be in a good mood today." The jet-black-haired woman returned her greeting with a smile of her own as well, even though she was starting to get suspicious herself.

Shizune tried to unhear the chuckle that came out of Tsunade's mouth upon her reply. "Indeed. Did you sleep well last night?" 

Tsunade's attendant nodded hesitantly. "That may have been the best sleep I've gotten in years. How about you?"

The blonde woman remembered the brief meeting she held a couple of minutes before Shizune entered. Tsunade replied with a grin, "Better than I thought, actually."

The jet-black-haired remarked rather enthusiastically, "Great! Then you must be feeling energized to deal with more paperwork today!" 

Tsunade's facial expression took a double turn from sweet to sour, but part of her dropping the chirpy act was crucial to her ongoing scheme. The blonde woman said with an impassive face, "Sure."

Shizune started, "Excellent. I'll go and bring in the reports–" but was cut off abruptly by Tsunade before she could finish her statement.

"-wait! Before you do that though… I need you to grab two buckets of sake."

The request did not necessarily perturb Shizune as she was merely used to being ordered around to tend to her master's drinking desires; nevertheless, the amount of bottles as per requested (one bucket equals 4 bottles) made her concerned for the woman's long-term health.

"Tsunade-sama, you do know that sake, let alone eight bottles of them is bad for your–"

To prevent the incoming lecture, the blonde woman interjected, "Oh for crying out loud, just go and grab as many bottles as you can! You should be tired of lecturing me about what's good and bad for my health by now."

Well, at least she got the message… somehow. Shizune sighed in defeat. She clearly expected too much after being greeted by a rather cheerful Hokage for just one morning, hoping she would take her job seriously now that today's her last day in the office.

"Alright, Hokage-sama. I'll be back with your sake." The Hokage's assistant bowed in reverence before leaving the office to run the errand as requested. Unbeknownst to her, the Godaime Hokage's insides were churning with guilt for putting through with this act against her conscience. Though as soon as her assistant was out of sight, she tapped the glass window thrice.

Having heard the signal, Aoba turned to Raidou, who proceeded to head to the second level of the tower as instructed. The scar-faced ninja did not take long to locate the designated window and entered right away into the guard's lounge room.

Inside, a certain senbon-sucker could be seen sorting through piles of paperwork on the coffee table. After several years of friendship and partnership in their respective jobs as Elite Hokage guards, Raidou's presence was already made known to the other man.

"Tsunade-sama's requesting for your presence. Be upstairs in 5 minutes."

A tired sigh escapes the copper-haired's lips, but he doesn't look up from the stacks of papers. "Yeah. I'll be there in a few. What does she need me for?"

"Paperwork. Shizune's running an errand for her, so while she's not there, you have to help her sort out the mission reports from the mission requests." Genma's senbon tilted downwards, showing his clear disinterest.

Genma drawled, "Of course she wants one of her bodyguards to do the paperwork for her. It's not like she has an assistant or anything."

"Hey, this is the last week you'll have to deal with this. With Kakashi taking over, it's going to be very possible to skip a work day. Think about it."

Genma tentatively plucked the senbon out of his mouth. "Please, don't even get me started with Kakashi. He's technically worse when it comes to paperwork. That pervert classmate of ours would rather sit around with his nose stuck in his debauchery of a book. The thought of paperwork or showing up on time won't even cross his mind. The next thing you know, that jerk will ask either Shizune or me to become Hokage next if his lazy ass feels like it. Putting up with Tsunade-sama is a lesser evil than putting up with that former stuck-up, honestly." 

Raidou was surprised that his friend openly expressed his grievances towards Kakashi's role as Hokage; nevertheless, he replied with, "If you ask me, it's a blessing you and Shizune were able to put up with her behavior for this long! Imagine what you both can do with Kakashi taking over. You guys will make great parents."

Realizing the implication of his last statement, Raidou choked. Genma's head rose up almost instantly, immediately shooting his scar-faced friend a calculating gaze. There was a hint of wariness from the way his teeth tightly clenched his senbon. "You just said what now?"

You dumb-ass. Raidou realized his slip-up and nearly fumbled with his reply, but he managed to make a good save: "I said, 'You guys have great patience!'" He finished his back-up statement with a cheeky smile, hoping to ease the curiosity that was already brewing within his friend.

Thankfully, Genma's reply was a simple hum before immediately dropping the subject to avoid further suspicion. Raidou thought that the ongoing scheme was simply too good to ruin right now.

"Well then… you should start making your way upstairs right now. I have other stuff to take care of at the moment. Catch you later." The scar-faced ninja waved at Genma before escaping out the window to where Tsunade was seen waiting downstairs by the entrance with Aoba, Kakashi, and Yamato.

"He'll be up in about 5 minutes," was all Raidou could report to the Hokage, who was currently feeling smug.

"Good. Aoba, I need you to be on the lookout. Once Shizune and Genma are both in the room waiting, I need you to signal Kakashi to do his Mud Wall jutsu over the windows so he can block the office's exit points. Raidou will guard me and Yamato, who's going to partially use the Four-Pillar Prison on the door to prevent them from leaving." Tsunade said.

Kakashi closed his book and sweat-dropped, looking at Tsunade with slight ridicule. "You have all the time in the world to finish paperwork, but you decide to waste it on attempting some elaborate prank?" 

"Kakashi, this is more than just an elaborate prank. This is me trying to fix things. What better way to end my last week as Hokage by bringing those two workaholics together?"

"If this is you trying to play matchmaker, then I'm most definitely concerned." The silver-haired remarked.

"Senpai, the only thing you need to be concerned with is the fact that you'll be taking over the role of Hokage by tomorrow. This may be your last day to have fun, so to speak." Yamato said, to which Kakashi's face sunk in saddening realization.

For him, this would mean less time "reading" and more time trying to act serious and professional. No excuses, even though he considers himself as a master thereof, when needed.

"Damn. We're a bunch of old people with nothing better left to do, huh?" Aoba's comment somewhat ticked the older woman.

"Nonsense. We're doing Kami's work here, just stick to the plan." The four shinobi said no more and scattered to their assigned spots. Tsunade, Yamato, and Raidou hid in the bushes as they patiently waited for Shizune to return.

Somewhere a few blocks away from the Hokage mansion, Aoba perched himself on one of the nearby telephone lines to gain sight of the Hokage's office. At the same time, he made sure he was far enough not to be discovered.

Meanwhile, Kakashi stationed himself right below the Hokage's edifice and created two clones to help fortify and heighten his Mud Wall jutsu.

A few minutes later, Shizune is seen making her way back to the Hokage mansion with two buckets of sake in her hands. Raidou and Yamato were surprised by the amount of alcohol the woman was sent to gather.

"Those are all for us, right?" The scar-faced ninja couldn't help but ask. Unfortunately for Raidou, Tsunade's glare seemed to make it clear that she wasn't planning on sharing.

The jet-black-haired casually made her way upstairs to Tsunade's office. She ignored the way the bottles clanked noisily each time her arms swayed and acted as a counterweight for the buckets.

Shizune was convinced that she was the only person assigned to enter the office, but a cool and familiarly deep voice caught her off-guard, which nearly caused her to hurl the loaded buckets at the owner himself.

"Oi, easy on the buckets. It's just me." Said a gruff-looking Genma, earning a sigh of relief from Shizune. His casual RBF furthered her inability to respond. She knew it was just his usual face, and in no way did it imply that he was in a foul mood. Although she couldn't help but think he looked more tired than usual.

"Ah, Genma! Nice to see you this morning. Were you on your way to see Tsunade-sama?" The Hokage's assistant inquired and the latter replied with an upward twitch of his senbon. Shizune knew since her genin days, that this was his unique way of responding to a 'yes' or 'no' question.

"Do you need help opening the door?" A small and kind smile forms his face, contrasting his previously disinterested look. Shizune nods, mumbling a small "thank you" in response.

Once they both entered the room, with Genma being a gentleman and letting Shizune enter first, all they could see was the empty seat behind the desk and a peacefully napping Tonton at the side.

"Oh great, she's not here. Again." The jet-black-haired huffed in exasperation.

"Again?" Genma eyed her with curiosity.

"She probably sent me to grab sake while she went off to go gambling. Classic Tsunade-sama. Why did I not refuse…?" Shizune said, clearly regretting the fact that she didn't politely decline her request. Genma shrugged and patiently told her to wait.

As soon as the two ninjas were on sight, Aoba alerted through comms, "Tsunade-sama, they're both in your office right now. Your group can start heading up. Kakashi, get ready."

"Hai, hai," came a bored reply from the future Rokudaime Hokage. The silver-haired man began weaving a couple of hand seals before unleashing a massive Mud Wall with the help of his shadow clones.

The huge block of earth created a rumbling effect, causing the floors of the office to shake violently. Consequently, the buckets fell from Shizune's hands, allowing the sake bottles to roll in different directions.

Without realizing, the woman's heels came in contact with the metal buckets, causing her to lose balance. Genma's instincts told him to pull her to safety, but the weight of her body accompanied by the rumbling and the scattered bottles on the floor immediately caused a chain reaction, which sent him tripping backwards while his arms were secured around her waist.

Outside the door, Yamato could be seen weaving a few hand seals and placing his hands on the floor, releasing the partial Four-Pillar Prison as a way to fence the pair in from getting out.

From outside, Aoba leapt off of the telephone line once he saw that the Mud Wall covered the entire side from where the Hokage's office was located. Both he and Kakashi retreated upstairs to the Hokage mansion so as to avoid causing any more confusion with the current situation, even though the commotion may not have escaped two certain Chūnin's line of sight.

Kotetsu and Izumo, who were leisurely taking a break from their shifts as gatekeepers were prompted to check the disturbance, seeing as they were within the premises of the Hokage mansion. 

Speeding their way upstairs, the two gatekeepers were planning to warn Tsunade of the upcoming danger. Only to be surprised when they see Kakashi, Yamato, Raidou, and the Hokage in question right outside the office, magically unaffected by the ruckus.

"Tsunade-sama, what's the meaning of this?" Izumo questioned.

A malicious grin was etched on the older woman's face. "A plan. I figured bringing them back together would be a better way to spend my final day as Hokage."

"Them? Uhh, who's inside?" Kotetsu wondered in curiosity.

"Genma and Shizune. Don't worry, we're not keeping them in there forever, so we'll listen in until we feel like they've sorted themselves out." Raidou replied. Izumo and Kotetsu have never been more confused yet excited in their entire life. Sadly, they can't stick around to see the magic happen, as they still have gatekeeping duties to fulfill.

Sensing that there was no sign of trouble or struggle, Kotetsu and Izumo wished the group good luck before they used Shunshin to teleport back to their posts.

"You do know there are better ways to get them to talk, right? Ways that don't involve trapping?" Yamato suggested, but his suggestion only earned an eye roll from the Hokage.

"If you think about it, this is the lesser evil. Had we executed the 'other' plan, neither one of us could get out of this alive." Kakashi said.

"Why? Is there a greater evil here? Something even greater than trapping them completely with a Mud Wall and a Four-Pillar Prison? What's the other plan?" Yamato probed with a string of questions. All of a sudden, Kakashi started giggling like the pervert that he is.

"Icha-Icha Tactics."

**

Once the rumbling had stopped and the state of the building assured her it was stable enough to move, the jet-black-haired lifted her head up from the crook of the copper-haired's neck. His left arm was still hooked around her waist, and her bare right leg rested on top of his torso.

Shizune's yukata was slightly dishevelled, and on top of that, the proximity between their faces would've implied that they were well beyond their way of making out.

For some apparent reason, Genma couldn't bring himself to let go, not even for a second. The copper-haired man carefully watched the way her obsidian eyes scanned his unreadable expression, as if she was waiting for some kind of reaction from him.

Guaranteed, if the woman on top of him had a great sense of hearing, she would've heard the wild thumping in his chest, and his usual cool would've been lost in a matter of seconds.

Interestingly enough, staring at each other's eyes drew them into a memory blackhole from seventeen years ago. The only thing that's keeping their faces from getting closer as of the moment was Genma's senbon, its tip raised alarmingly close to her nose...

Yet seventeen years ago from their memory proved that nothing, not even the sharpest end of his senbon, could increase the distance between their faces.

**

In contrast to the time of peace that Konoha has reached in the aftermath of the latest war, 17 year-old Genma was an Elite Hokage Guard and 15 year-old Shizune was Tsunade's apprentice. Both took to the woods to meet up as usual, but they understood that each meeting would be less and less frequent.

Shizune went to their spot feeling anxious. She did not know how to break the news to him without breaking him first. In fact, she didn't know how in the world she can walk away without turning back on what she's about to do now.

He saw her make her way to the abandoned tree stump deep in the luscious forests of Konoha. The stump has and always has been their meeting place, ever since he accidentally aimed his senbon right at her shoulder.

He remembered the animosity that occured between them in the initial phase of their relationship, but one joint mission in particular forced him to change gears and step in and protect her from the slash of a kunai.

Since then, they've been making it a point to spend time talking and/or training with each other in their free time. They were close enough to know that they can easily confide in each other about the losses they face in battle, or the trauma that follows after every mission.

But the grief and anxiety that Shizune's feeling was too great and therefore was not worth the consolation, and neither one of them can back away from it.

"Hey," Genma beckoned her to sit beside him, the warm look on his face temporarily settling her worries down. Shizune proceeded to take a seat beside him.

"I honestly thought you wouldn't show up. Don't you have guard duty today?" The jet-black-haired girl questioned. The downcast look never left her face, but she didn't direct it at him.

The copper-haired replied, "I'm off-duty today. Minato-san wanted me to take a break."

"That's nice, I guess," was all Shizune could utter in response. Sensing the change in tone, Genma placed a comforting hand on her shoulder. The girl didn't shrug him away, despite the negative feelings pooling into her heart.

"Something troubling you?" His tone was gentle, and in no way seemed demanding.

"I'm just tired." Shizune knew it was useless to lie around him, since he could easily determine from the way she fidgeted the obi on her kimono. Though she couldn't bring herself to tell him that she's leaving at the break of dawn, due to her losing her uncle Dan, her shishou's lover. 

"You don't have to, but… if you want, we can talk about it." His hand retracts from her shoulder, and instead he shifts himself so that he's facing her directly. Suddenly, his RBF takes a hundred-eighty-degree turn the moment he sees the hurt and apprehension written in her eyes. 

The moment their eyes locked, the feeling in her chest got tighter. Her conscience engaged in an endless battle, racking her from the inside to choose whether she should walk away remaining truthful or dismissive towards him. All sense of rationality disappeared the moment her eyes started welling up with tears.

Perhaps the one thing that worried her the most besides having to leave the village with Tsunade, was having to leave Genma, the one she secretly loved. And she didn't want to talk about it.

Not when she could potentially break his heart.

Genma was more than a friend and a confidant to her. Maybe this was the worst time to admit that she indeed cared for him more than he thought she would, but she will admit this: she loved him a little too much. 

And it's not only because of the way he effortlessly looked cool wearing his usual RBF or chewing his senbon, or the way he had a unique charm and a carefree vibe that Kakashi lacked, or even the way he looked annoyingly handsome without even trying.

It's also because he ensured he would be there with her to watch the day turn night, to build her up when she feels broken down, and equally, to turn each other's troubles into accomplishments so that they as ninjas can look forward to the next day, no matter how troublesome or traumatizing it is.

And that's what's stopping her from telling him the truth. The question of whether he felt the same or not didn't matter, because she knew her feelings of fear and worry were far greater than what he felt for her personally.

What she didn't know? He felt the same, but there was no trace of fear or doubt in his eyes. If anything, he seemed generally at ease, save for the look of concern upon seeing the tears slowly collecting in her eyes.

She spoke to him without looking at him this time: "Genma, I need to tell you something."

"What is it?" His cool exterior doesn't break as he asks her, but the inner tension was gradually eating him away.

There was a moment of silence between them as he waited for her to speak.

"Time is short and life is short… and I know that sometimes we're given choices that we can't walk away from, but know this…" she trails off before gazing at him with glassy eyes. She knew well enough that her statement was rather cryptic, so to speak, and probably carries more weight than it should.

"I love you," Genma's eyes widened at her confession.

"And whether I'll be here to hear you say it back, it doesn't matter. I'm just telling you before it's too late."

The stunned and shocked look on his face was no lie. Both ignored how the wind blew harshly on their stiff figures and how the thunder roared abruptly, yet neither were willing to move. A storm is coming, the rain is falling, and he takes this as a sign that an impending doom awaits them, but he stays rooted in his spot. 

For Shizune, it was a good thing the falling rain provided a cover for her tear-stricken face. She didn't know if he had the slightest clue of what she meant to say, but he probably knew there was more to tell from her cryptic confession.

As the rain fell harder on their heads, the urge to turn away and leave without saying anything any further grew even stronger. Her body acted quickly on its own as she stood up and began running away from him, but he was quicker.

The Elite Hokage Guard raced towards Tsunade's apprentice, showing no hesitation to pull her to his side, but he failed to realize the muddy ground. As a result, he slipped and Shizune fell on top of him, adding more weight to his fall. His head harshly collided with the tree root embedded to the ground, causing him to seethe his teeth in pain and the senbon in his mouth to clatter away.

"Genma! Are you okay?!" Panic and concern was written all over her face as she brushed his drenched fringes to the side. Her tears and anxiety haven't washed away, even with the pouring rain, but her worry temporarily shifted to his current state.

Before she drowned herself in guilt and frustration for causing him physical pain, he took a second to realize that his left arm had wrapped itself protectively around her waist, and that her slim body added to the warmth that was visibly spreading to his cheeks. Not even the rain could hide the flustered and confused look on his face.

"Sorry, it was my fault I brought you down with me. I'm fine." He reassured her this time, and he was more than relieved to see her tensed figure loosen up and lean against him so that their bodies were locked into an embrace.

"Thank goodness!" Shizune cried freely against him, her emotions going haywire as he tightened their hug. Neither of them said anything about the confession, but he gently pulled himself away to look at her face once more.

The jet-black-haired's puffy eyes were now evident with tears; as vulnerable as she was now, he always believed she carried this unique beauty, both internally and externally.

From the way she held herself around with elegance and politeness, from the way she extended her care and love to those closest to her, and from the way she smiled with her eyes closed, he knew every second he spent gazing into her beautiful face… he realized he loved her too.

Truthfully, he had not the slightest idea as to why he only realized this now.

Genma found himself twirling a strand of Shizune's wet and silky hair, which was weird since it was usually her who played with his hair. In all honesty, it was rare for the copper-haired boy to initiate this form of contact, much less twirl her hair and look deep into the dark pools of her obsidian eyes.

Yet the instant he finished twirling a lock of her hair, and wiping her tears with his free thumb, he pulled the strand of hair to close the distance between their faces, and used it to kiss her wholeheartedly.

Shizune did not fight against it, the feelings of happiness and fluttering excitement temporarily replacing the fear festered in her heart. She felt him smile through their kiss as she returned them, her heart soaring with love and swelling with so much emotion, yet the longer they kissed, the easier it was to forget the fear that got the best of her a couple minutes ago.

Since that day—the tragic day when the Kyuubi attacked Konoha and killed the Fourth Hokage and his wife—Shizune mistakenly thought that some things were better left unsaid.

Little did she know that a certain someone will confront her and bring the truth to light in years to come.


	2. Free

Tonton's 'oink' in the office shook Genma from the long state of awkwardness and remembrance between the two of them. He dismissively told her, "You can get off of me now."

She understood him immediately, rising up from her position to fix her yukata. For a few seconds, they averted each other's gaze, before Shizune picked up the scattered bottles and placed them back in the buckets. Genma started making his exit and strode his way to the door, but the moment he grasped and turned the knob, he furrowed his eyebrows.

To make it worse, Shizune was picking up a bottle underneath the Hokage's desk when all of a sudden, she saw a huge wall blocking the entire view. She had disregarded the fact that the room turned a tad darker while she was still on top of Genma, but the instant she saw him struggling to open the door, a look of impending horror struck her face.

"Are we… stuck here?"

After minutes of picking locks and getting no results, Genma replied candidly, "Seems so. And before you ask, I can’t do any other Earth style jutsus that can bust us out of here.”

Shizune slapped her forehead and sighed in exasperation, slumping her back on the side of the desk. "Great. Just great."

Both were unaware that they were being eavesdropped from the outside. But they were well aware that getting out of this "entanglement" was beyond their ability as of the moment. Suddenly, the thought of drinking sake wasn't so bad.

Shizune grabbed one bottle from the bucket. She stared at it first before popping it open and gulping it down in one sitting. Genma watched her empty one more bottle agape. If there's one thing that he knew about Shizune from the brief encounters he had with her since her return, then it would be that she's usually against her master drinking alcohol, but wasn't against drinking herself.

And being the Hokage's assistant, it was all the more important to stay sober so she could keep Tsunade up on her toes. For her to go against that code right now was unsettling and not very rational as he thought she would be.

Shizune was about to lose it with her third bottle, but Genma swiftly knocked it out of her grasp, making it shatter and spill its contents all over the marbled floor. The jet-black-haired fought against the copper-haired's grasp over the spilled bottle. In one swift motion, she flicked the senbon out of his mouth, sending it clattering onto the floor.

Genma secured her hands until they stopped moving, begrudgingly ignoring the loss of a needle on the left side of his teeth. "What are you doing?" He said in a stern voice, trying to fight off the irritation that was creeping within him if she decided to continue with this act.

With a flushed look on her face, Shizune answered, "Drinking down my sorrows. What else?"

"This isn't like you." He replied.

"You know nothing about how I'm like." She said with a steely voice.

With a cold edge in his voice, he told her, "Exactly. You left, so how would I know?"

"I didn't want to leave you," she averted his piercing gaze.

Genma laughed bitterly. "Yet you didn't tell me. You allowed me to kiss you to make yourself feel better about leaving. So you technically just used me to bury all the negative feelings you failed to convey, when you and I met up in the forest that day. It's enough to tell me that you care more about having to walk away without telling the truth."

Something in Shizune's shattered at the way he said those words. She didn't mean to leave him to deal with losing Minato and Kushina, the people he more or less regarded as family. And she most definitely didn't mean to break his heart and lead him on false hope with the way she did by leaving him, but she did.

She can't bring herself to argue that not all of what he said was not true, yet somehow his words were enough to leave her immensely guilty.

Shizune sighed in resignation. "I know I can't come easy with a sorry, but hear me out."

The copper-haired didn't say anything, so she took this as an invitation to talk.

"It's clear that whatever Tsunade-sama is doing right now, is just her way to get rid of me. She's probably sick of me trying to keep her on her toes every day, of me trying to get her to do her job like any Kage would. I bet she can't even stand having me around, especially on her last day as Hokage. After all, it's the last push, and then she'll be happily retired."

Genma frowned.

"Perhaps she wants to retire now without me around. I did promise myself to look after her ever since Uncle Dan died and to devote my time and dedication to her the moment I became her apprentice."

All sense of hope seemed to wither away for Genma the moment he heard her say from her own mouth, that her loyalty was to Tsunade alone. He fought the urge to think about those times they've spent talking and training in the woods.

The kiss they shared seventeen years ago convinced him that they were capable of becoming something more, amidst all the chaos they were embroiled in at that time. Maybe he misheard the last part, maybe he didn't. Though he couldn't help but think, did anything that happened between them matter at all?

"Tsunade-sama's the only person who can ever come close as a mother to me, so saying that she's important to me is an understatement. Although seeing her take advantage of what I put through for her at times and me not addressing the issue soon enough… agh, it hurts. It really does."

Shizune searches his face for any look of sympathy, yet his stoic and blank face did not falter.

"Then again, I resigned myself to this fate. You're right about me not being like this, but I had no choice. I learned the hard way, thinking that peace and comfort is possible in this world. We shinobi are forced to make the toughest choices, and that involves leaving everything behind to devote yourself to something or someone."

Genma looks down in understanding.

"Is that why you left… without telling me?" Shizune was trying to comprehend the weight of his question and was about to answer, but he beat her to it. "When you became Tsunade-sama's apprentice, you burdened yourself with the task of looking after her after the death of your uncle and in return for her teaching you medical ninjutsu. So you had no choice, but to leave me."

The Hokage's assistant looked down guiltily, responding with a "yes." She eventually took his silence as a way to continue. He was about to stand up and find themselves a way out, but she had gently stopped him. 

"Genma… I hated, dreaded that I had to leave you. And I regret not telling you that day. We kissed because of some petty and empty confession, instead of what should've been a proper kiss of goodbye. I gave you false hope the moment you returned my love, and I… led you on for so many years that I would return, until you lost hope yourself."

He knew she was right for the most part, but he thought it was wrong of her to think that it was a "petty" and "empty" confession, for he himself felt it was merely sugarcoating the intent behind her words. Then again, she did admit about the lack of truth that he deserved for so long, and that was good enough for him.

"I know that this is a long and overdue apology, and I know it's too late for you to accept it, but… I'm sorry. I really am. You don't have to forgive me for being selfish, cowardly, or even cruel for leaving you in the dust like that." She forced a sad smile.

Genma let out a tired sigh and placed a comforting hand on her shoulder. "To be honest, I can't stay mad at you. So you can stop beating yourself up over it, because I do forgive you."

Shizune didn't seem convinced. "Really? Just like that?" She bat a disbelieving brow at him.

Genma had a contemplative look on his face before he began talking. "It took me a while to realize what it means to have a choice. I know choice was given to us freely as shinobi, but we don't always have the liberty to decide what the right choice is." He stated.

Shizune stared at him in curiosity, clearly interested to know his viewpoint in all this.

"I said this to Neji once, ‘that when captured birds grow wiser, they try to open the cage with their beaks. They don't give up, because they want to fly again.’" A sad smile forms over his face. For him, it was too soon for the Hyūga to accept death as his fate.

He remembered seeing him fight and sputter fatalistic ideas just to shake Naruto off in the third round of the Chūnin Exams nearly three years ago. Neji alone reminded him of himself when he was young, around the time when all hope seemed to be lost for him personally.

Genma himself used to believe free will wasn't for everyone and that death was uncontrollable—that everyone around him was resigned to the same ugly fate known singularly as death.

He used to adhere to those same fatalistic ideals especially after losing—under his watch—Minato and Kushina, the only people who he can truly regard as family, and even more, Shizune when she left the village unannounced.

He nearly went back to believing them after losing Hayate and the Third Hokage under his watch, yet again.

Though eventually, he accepted that shinobi will always experience loss. Regardless of whether they were in control or not—regardless of whether free will was in the equation or not. And he learned the hard way, that sometimes loss had to do with the betterment of the individual, and the world, in general. 

So he pushed through his thoughts with a more hopeful message, "This cage that we're in, it's a cage that we set up ourselves. Death and loss, the entrapment in this case, are external factors. The real challenge was always from within and how we use our entrapments to better ourselves, to better the things around us." He looked into her eyes with deep intensity.

"Shizune, you made the choice to leave me even though you were against it internally. But it would've been selfish of me to keep you in Konoha just to enter in a relationship that wasn't possible to maintain back then. The fate of you leaving me, was a gateway for me to learn better and for you to grow stronger—to save more lives. You said to me once that that was your goal, and you made that possible. And trust me when I say that you saved a lot of lives, including my own."

There was a spark of light in Shizune's eyes, but it wasn't the same light of admiration towards the former Sannin or light of love that shone when Tsunade woke up from her coma; it was realization and hope that they both can turn things around if they wanted to.

"Losing Minato-san and Kushina-san, Hayate, Sandaime-sama, the Hyūga kid, and nearly you twice, I learned that losing people opens a choice for me to become a better person or worse. It takes guts to know that sometimes, things go worse… so they can go right." Shizune didn't know exactly what awakened in her heart, but she knew at this point that it was beyond eye-opening realization and happiness.

It was the feeling she tried to lock away after Tsunade forced her into shape, into the woman that she is now—into the kunoichi that she is now.

"You know, we've come a long way." She smiled at him, eyes beaming with tears and love and hope and so much emotion, because they both have come so far.

"Yeah, definitely. I don't know how I'm capable of being a 'wise' and a 'crack' at the same time," Genma chuckled.

"You mean a wisecrack? Since when did you break the word into two?" Shizune asked.

"I don't know, I guess ever since we had this long, overdue discussion…?" The jet-black-haired finally broke into a laugh. Feelings of nostalgia and childish joy poured into his heart as he saw the corners of her mouth break into a full smile and the crinkles form around her eyes when they close.

"Speaking of long, overdue discussions, I forgot to tell you something." Genma blurted out. 

Shizune eyed him curiously. "What is it?"

Suddenly, she felt his forehead touching hers. His fringes were now held together by his bandana, so she didn't have to brush them aside like she always did back then. Genma made a genuine smile that warmed her heart and her face, entirely.

"I love you."

"I love you too." 

Before they were about to lock lips with each other however, the door to the Hokage's office was destroyed. Apparently, Tsunade had smashed through Yamato's Four-Pillar fence and her fist had reached the door, creating a large hole.

All of a sudden, four other familiar shinobi broke through the door, surprising the new and fully reunited couple.

"Surprise, lovebirds! Did you get to sort yourselves out?" After Tsunade's remark, Genma and Shizune glared at her and her accomplices. They decided to hold the glare for a while.

"Had you popped in sooner, I would've lost it myself! It's a good thing Genma and I caught up with each other and had a really decent conversation to change my mind!" Shizune pointed an accusatory finger at her former master. 

"Relax. I heard everything that you guys were talking about. Real sweet, by the way. Thanks for the epiphany and the philosophy lesson, Genma." Tsunade commented.

"Thank you for eavesdropping on an important and private conversation, Hokage-sama." The sarcasm laced in his tone made Raidou, Yamato, and Aoba snicker.

"You start getting sarcastic with me Genma, and I'll ask Kakashi to double the workload. You should thank me for bringing you and Shizune back together." Tsunade crossed her arms, pouting in a playful manner.

"Yeah, but I guess I should be thanking you for giving me no choice but to leave the man I love the most seventeen years ago." The Hokage was taken aback by Shizune's statement. Genma averted Tsunade's gaze.

"All that talk of choice and free will, I can say that I definitely had something to do with it too… and you're right. I've taken advantage of your duty and devotion to me personally, but even more, I forced you to leave the person you loved the most."

Shizune was silent.

"My intent was to protect you from losing him, like how I lost Dan, though I guess I may have forced you to leave because I wouldn't let you enter a relationship that I know I could never have." The older woman had a sour and mournful expression, clearly guilt-stricken having had the past catch up to her once again.

"Tsunade-sama—" Shizune was about to comfort Tsunade, but the older woman had cut her off.

"No, Shizune. Enough about me. The past is the past. Like what Genma said, some things go wrong so that things can go right. I've settled with the fact that Nawaki, Dan, Sarutobi-sensei, and Jiraiya are gone, so I'm ready to settle with the person I've grown to be after all these losses." The Fifth Hokage smiled, looking both at Shizune and Genma at the same time before turning to Shizune individually.

"Shizune, you are without a doubt a great kid. You've shown how loyal, dutiful, professional, kind, loving, caring, and nitpicky you are in all the years we've traveled together. You are an insane workaholic, and you may not know this, but your health and wellbeing matters more to me than mine. I believe you need to take a serious load-off from being an assistant. Right now, you deserve to live a normal, less stressful life with Genma." Tsunade said, smiling at her long-time companion and daughter figure.

The latter blushed at the mention of his name, despite him being right beside her. Tsunade eventually turned to Genma, with an equally friendly smile of her own.

"And you Genma, you have a great sense of duty, you're wise—hell, you're a crack and you're funny as hell, but sometimes you have the tendency to be a workaholic like this woman right here, and you tend to think less about yourself too. I hear from Kakashi that you often undermine your losses from his. Just so you know, there's no lesser or greater loss. Same advice: you and Shizune hit it off and take a load off. That's orders from your Hokage. Are we both clear?"

It took Shizune and Genma a full minute to respond before both replying with a collective "yes, Tsunade-sama." 

Raidou, Aoba, and Yamato whistled in amusement. All laughs and smiles were exchanged after the long morning, and Tsunade had offered to treat everyone to dango. Kakashi took a minute to talk with the newly reunited couple.

"Maa, it's technically orders from me as well. Shizune, you can start entrusting the responsibility to Shikamaru. He's a good kid and I believe that will set him up into becoming Naruto's right-hand man in the future." The jet-black-haired woman nodded at Kakashi, as a sign of gratitude and approval.

"And Genma, you don't have to worry about being in charge of the Chūnin Exams this time 'round. I know that's too much paperwork and crap for a guard like you." Kakashi shot him an eye-smile, shutting his orange book and keeping it in his pocket.

"I could hug you right now, but just so you know, I’m going nowhere near that porn book of yours." Genma remarked, earning a sweat-drop from his former classmate.

"Which reminds me, I have an image to keep as Hokage. I can't be seen reading that book around the village or all the women in Konoha will kill me." Kakashi laughed nervously.

"Next thing you know, Genma, Aoba, and I will guard the onsen in Konoha so as to prevent you from peeking around." Raidou added.

“We’ll be watching you, senpai.” Yamato threatened with his scary-wide eyes.

"Yeah, we can't have a pervert Hokage running around like that." The senbon-sucker teasingly put an arm around Kakashi.

"Come on you guys, I know better than to peep on random women in Konoha. I'll probably lose my job and my dignity." The silver-haired waved his hands up in defense.

"Please, you don't even have dignity." Genma savagely joked, to which Kakashi took it full offense. Shizune chortled at the exchange, but yelped in surprise when she felt an arm wrapped around her waist.

Turns out Genma was holding her close with his left arm and Kakashi with his right arm around his shoulder. Raidou joined the gang by hooking his arm around Shizune, a friendly reminder of the times four of them used to hang out with Asuma, Kurenai, Obito, and Rin in the dango shop.

Tsunade, Aoba, and Yamato followed closely behind the four as they casually conversed.

Today officially marks the last day of the last week that Tsunade is operating as Hokage. The Senju can finally commit to endless hours of gambling and drinking, and Shizune couldn't be more proud of herself.

Shizune still has a job to fulfill, and that is to be Kakashi's advisor and attendant for 10 more years. Apart from that, she and Genma are officially back together, and they are free to enjoy the peace and casually busy life ahead of them now that the younger generation is slowly taking over.

At least now, both Genma and Shizune can enjoy the peace knowing that they've finally broken out of the cage they've trapped themselves into, as well as accept the freedom and happiness that their generation have fought to preserve.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That's all for my Genma Weekend 2020 Submission on Day 1 – Bonds.
> 
> Comments and feedback are important and are greatly appreciated, so I hope you can leave a good few. I would like to become a better writer. 
> 
> I plan to write more oneshots of this beautiful and underrated couple, so expect more from them and from diff pairings too. :D


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